Educational Technologies at Missouri
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Portable Audio - New Resources for Teaching and Learning

Today's popular MP3 players have the ability to carry students' music and their homework on a single, easy-to-carry device. They can be seen everywhere - ten million iPods had been sold by the end of 2004. The mobility and ease of using MP3 players like the iPod expands students' opportunities for anywhere/anytime learning and practice. Think of them as time-shifting devices like a VCR or TiVo. Some of the current and potential uses of iPods in academe include:

Most of this could be done without iPods. It is the ease with which files can be synched with computers, the ability to move non-sequentially through tracks, and to carry and view text (and in some cases graphics) files in a small and portable device that transforms these activities. Check out the resource link to Duke University at the bottom of this document. Descriptions of actual uses of the iPod in courses at Duke give a good idea of the range and depth of projects that faculty are attempting.

Podcasting can take the use of iPods and similar devices to another level. Briefly defined, it is a means of automatically downloading audio content from the web through a "subscription" to a website. While basically a simple idea and no harder to implement than a web page, it is also powerful, having being likened to the sticky on the back of a Post-It Note. It is often used for Audio Blogs, but is suitable for the delivery of most audio content. The MU School of Journalism has been exploring the possibilities of podcasting for reporting. Explore the excellent resource links about podcasting at the end of this document.

As instructors broaden their use of downloading, sharing, and creating files for MP3 players, they must keep in mind legal issues that may be involved. Most institutions already have computing policies that address acceptable use, security, family educational rights to privacy (FERPA), as well as copyright and intellectual property rights. Instructors will need to be alert to make sure their uses of new technologies adhere to their institution's guidelines.

ET@MO has staff, facilities, and equipment available to help MU faculty examine the possibilities of iPods and podcasting for their courses. Contact Guy Wilson (wilsong@missouri.edu) or Margaret Gunderson (gundersonm@missouri.edu) if you are interested.

Hardware and Software Information

Capabilities of Different iPods

Not all iPods are created equal. There are presently four different members of the family, but only two of them can record. Instructors need to be aware of this as they plan projects that may require recording capabilities (i.e., for interviewing) or graphics (such as podguides). This table provides a brief overview of capabilities of current & recent models (as of October 2005).

Type Play Music Portable Drive Display Text Display Photos Record
iPod Shuffle Yes Yes No No No
iPod Mini* Yes Yes Yes No No
iPod Nano Yes Yes Yes Yes No
iPod 20GB Yes Yes Yes No Yes
iPod 60GB Yes Yes Yes Yes Yes

*discontinued model

Recommended Recording Hardware for iPods and Computers

Whether recording audio on an iPod or on a computer, a microphone is required. If you do not already have one, you may want to consider the Griffin line of products. In our testing, ET@MO has had consistently good results with these. We have heard of similar results at other institutions.

Product Purpose
Griffin iTalk low-end recording for iPods and Photo iPods;
adapter for other microphones & headphones for iPods & Photo iPods
Griffin Lapel Mic mid-range recording microphone for use with the iTalk or iMic
Griffin iMic audio-to-USB adapter to provide high-quality audio input and output on Macintosh and Windows computers

Recommended Software (Note: Items in italics are free of charge.)

A number of pieces of software are available for working with audio recording on an iPod or computer and for podcasting. Many of these are available free of charge. While recording software is not required if you are using an iPod, you may want to have something available to edit audio files. You will definitely want iTunes or a similar program for organizing files and doing file format conversions. For podcasting, you will need some way of creating the RSS feeds. A simple text editor can do this or you can use a program such as Propaganda that handles all aspects of podcast creation.

Category Mac Windows
Audio Recording/Editing Audacity
Garage Band
Final Vinyl
iMovie		 Audacity
Propaganda
Audio File Conversion iTunes iTunes
Audio Playback iTunes
Quicktime
Windows Media Player		 iTunes
Windows Media Player
Quicktime
Podcatching (Content Aggregators) iPodder
iPodderX
NetNewsWire 2		 iPodder
RSS Radio
Creating/Editing RSS Feeds FeedforAll
Text edit TextWrangler

FeedforAll
Propaganda
Notepad

For Further Reading:

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